Philippine shares rise on strong buying appetite

PHILIPPINE STOCKS closed higher on Monday on strong buying appetite as more companies released their financial results.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.36% or 23.39 points to close at 6,488.51, while the broader all shares index went up by 0.58% or 20.93 points to end at 3,591.61.

The index opened the trading session at 6,468.91, edging up from Friday’s close of 6,465.12 and also its lowest point for the day. It hit a high of 6,534 but returned below the 6,500 line before the closing bell.

“The PSEi ended higher as buying pressure persisted in today’s session, with more earnings releases driving sentiment toward individual stocks,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

“However, concerns over new tariffs kept trading volume subdued, as fresh global uncertainties weighed on overall market activity.”

Value turnover rose to P6.12 billion on Monday with 867.18 million shares traded from the P5.61 billion with 874.33 million issues that changed hands on Friday.

Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said in a Viber message that Philippine stocks continued to rise as the US Supreme Court’s move to declare the “reciprocal” tariffs imposed by President Donald J. Trump on their trading partners as unconstitutional helped boost sentiment towards emerging markets.

“This long-awaited US Supreme Court ruling would give greater certainty on Trump’s powers to impose tariffs globally,” he said.

Most emerging-market (EM) stocks advanced on Monday as investors continued to rotate out of US assets, spooked by fresh uncertainty around US tariffs, Reuters reported.

MSCI’s index tracking EM stocks jumped 1%, while the currency equivalent inched up 0.2%.

What was already a steady shift toward emerging markets got an extra jolt after a series of tariff headlines in the United States when the Supreme Court struck down Mr. Trump’s emergency tariffs, prompting him to announce a new 10% levy on the rest of the world, only to raise it again to 15% soon after.

That continued to weigh on the dollar, giving emerging-market currencies some breathing room.

At home, most sectoral indices closed higher on Monday. Mining and oil rose by 2.97% or 558.99 points to 19,357.82; property increased by 1.39% or 30.38 points to 2,211.81; industrials went up by 0.97% or 89.53 points to 9,262.17; holding firms climbed by 0.73% or 37.28 points to 5,136.23; and financials rose by 0.14% or 3.12 points to 2,181.59.

Meanwhile, services fell by 0.59% or 16.05 points to 2,698.23.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 123 to 69, while 72 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign buying went up to P858.86 million from the P351.89 million in the previous session. — AGCM with Reuters